Fall in Love With Me
by Eternal Dumas
Summary: AU In a world where Sena and Mamori never met when they were younger, how would things have changed if Akaba had been Sena's childhood friend instead? Pairings: AkabaxSena and one sided othersxSena
1. Rain

**AN: **First Eyeshield 21 fanfiction. Set in an alternate universe where Mamori does not exist and instead, Sena ends up having Akaba as his childhood friend/protector. There will be eventual AkabaxSena as well as many other peoplexSena (because Sena is so obviously uke).

**Warnings include: male/male pairings, OOC-ness, erratic writing and some bad grammar.**

**Disclaimer: Eyeshield 21 is not owned by Eternal Dumas due to the fact that said author cannot even draw stick figures properly.**

Edit: I've also added a new part in the beginning of chapter one originally meant for chapter two in order to make things flow better. Enjoy!

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_Akaba Hayato, even at the small age of nine, realized that he was a very unique sort of person. For one, he disliked socializing with his fellow peers (or at least, the ones whom he thought totally clashed with his rhythm) and preferred to seek solace in his guitar rather than his classmates. This was very unusual, especially for young boys whom, at such an age, would usually be seeking praise and attention through their actions._

_But Akaba was no normal nine-year-old. In school, he carried a guitar case everywhere he went and, during lunch time, would take the guitar out and begin strumming it. He had also developed a habit of speaking in musical terms i.e. "today my rhythm is rather off-beat from it's usual tempo" in his every day speech but eventually toned it down enough for people to understand what he was saying at least half of the time. Still, other children would distance themselves from him because of his strange behavior and did not like talking to him until the need arose (if only so that they wouldn't be confused by his "musical" speech)._

_Kobayakawa Sena, though, was different. Where Akaba was slender and polite (and a bit eccentric), an almost perfect example of maturity, Sena was small, shy and cute; the perfect example of childhood innocence and a typical bully target._

_Having been neighbors with the Akaba family ever since he was born, it was only natural for Sena to one day meet their son, Hayato. Since Sena's mother, Kobayakawa Mihae, was also a close friend of Hayato's mother, Akaba Suzumi, it also became natural for both Sena and Hayato to spend time with each other._

_It was a mystery to many, though, on how the two ever managed to become such close friends when they were both so different. But like in the case of many such relationships that boggled the mind, no one ever bothered to raise the question._

*~*~*~*~*

Ducking beneath the low-hanging branches of the willow tree, his right shoulder lightly brushed past a few glittering, wet branches heavy with rain. The leaves on the branches rustled at contact, causing the water upon the leaves to shake themselves free of the greenery. In his ears, the sound of the falling water almost sounded like grumbling spirits, irritated that they had been disturbed from their sleep.

Yet that was not the sound he was listening for. His mind focused, his ears honed for something else. Like sitting down to an orchestra concert, waiting for the orchestra to finish their last movement so the first quavering note of the violin solo could emerge.

The branches he had disturbed finally stopped rustling, the last of the raindrops falling towards the ground.

_Plop._

_Plop._

_Plink._

A small triumphant smile tugged at the corner of his lips. _'Sounds like he's here after all_.'

There was a small "eep" followed by more rustling of the willow branches, only this time on the opposite side of the tree. He could already hear the younger boy's rapid footsteps as he desperately tried to run away from what he thought were more bullies.

Letting out an almost inaudible sigh, the first boy, a slender child of almost nine with vibrant red hair, reached out with both arms to grab a fistful of the other boy's t-shirt, successfully stopping him from running away.

The second boy, who was much smaller than the first with messy chocolate brown hair, let out another cry of terror, believing that the bullies he had so desperately tried to run away from had once again caught him.

"Shhh," came the soft voice of the red-headed boy. "It's alright Sena-kun, it's only me."

Immediately, the younger boy's cries ceased. His eyes, filled to the brim with tears, turned to look behind him. His vision blurry, he had trouble focusing on the boy holding his shirt but the red hair was unmistakable.

"H-H-Hayato-niisan?"

The boy, known as Akaba Hayato, smiled—it was too minuscule to see through the brown-haired boy's tears—and released his grip on Sena's soaked t-shirt.

"I told you to wait for me at the park if you ever got in trouble, Sena-kun. Why did you run away before I could find you?" Akaba lightly chided.

The brown-haired boy, Sena, flushed in both embarrassment and shame.

"I'm sorry Hayato-niisan, but Toka and his friends all started chasing me when they saw me at the playground. I was going to stand my ground like you told me to but then Toka's big brother was there too, with a bat. I got really scared! So I ran and…I'm really sorry," mumbled Sena as he noticed Akaba's disapproving stare. "I'm sorry Hayato-niisan, I was really going to try this time. I really was! I just….got too scared," he finished lamely, bowing his head even lower than before as he self-consciously began nudging the dirt with the toe of his mud-splattered white sneaker. A small voice in the back of his head suddenly reminded him that these sneakers were the ones that Akaba had brought for him on his birthday, costing the boy nearly half of his yearly allowance.

_'He really does spoil you,'_ said the small voice in his head. '_Even though you're such an ungrateful brat and always embarass Hayato-niisan with how much of a coward and girl you are.'_

Once again, Sena could feel the tears brimming in his eyes but desperately tried to hold them back, if only so he wouldn't embarrass Hayato-niisan any further.

They were silent, the two of them, for what seemed like hours, both of them waiting for the other to talk.

In the end, it was Akaba who made the first move. This time, when he sighed, Sena could hear it loud and clear. He cringed, waiting for the inevitable barrage of insults he had been expecting from Akaba for the last seven years.

Instead, he heard the clink of metal sliding into place and a 'whoosh' of air before a large, circular shadow was cast over both of them. Confused, Sena looked up to see….an umbrella?

Sena swallowed. "H-Hayato-niisan?"

"Fuu," Akaba breathed out. "You didn't expect me to come after you without an umbrella did you? After all, it's going to be raining the entire day today and you're already soaked to the bone Sena-kun."

Once again, Sena blushed in embarrassment as he realized what Hayato-niisan said was true. He had been so occupied with running away from the bullies that he had barely noticed the rain when it had come down and this was the result—his shirt sticky and wet, like a piece of see-through taffy stuck to his skin and his brown shorts (the ones that Hayato-niisan had passed down to him after he had outgrown them and were a size too big) uncomfortably wrapped around his thighs and knees.

"I'm sorry," Sena once again mumbled, bowing his head in apology.

Akaba closed his eyes and sighed again. "Why...?"

The brown-haired boy hesistantly looked up at Akaba, his wide brown eyes still blurry with tears.

"Why has the melody of your heart become so erratic, Sena?"

Sena bit his bottom lip. He had already known Hayato-niisan long enough to be able to understand the basics of his musical anthologies. That was why, he knew that when Hayato-niisan started mentioning the melodies of his heart, he was either very worried or very happy.

'_Not only that, but he also used only my first name. That definetely means he's worried, _' Sena glumly thought. _'Or even worse, he's worried __and__ mad.'_

There was a rustling above them as the wind suddenly began to blow through the drenched willow branches, bringing a mini-shower of water droplets down upon the two boys. The droplets hit the umbrella with a dull 'thud', causing Sena to jump at the sudden sound.

Akaba chuckled quietly at the sight; his laugh barely heard.

It was times like these, when it was only the two of them; alone somewhere, free of both bullies and family, that Akaba could truly feel grateful for the miracle that was Kobayakawa Sena in his life.

He reached out then, with the one hand that wasn't holding the umbrella, to clasp his and Sena's hands together, making sure his grip was firm, but not tight. Sena looked up at him, his eyes wide and innocent just like any other eight-year-old. Yet Akaba felt that Sena's eyes were different, unique in their own way. Sena's eyes portrayed the unique melody of his soul, a beat both irregular and constant and matched well with Akaba's own.

"Let's go home now Sena-kun," he said, his hand still firmly gripping the smaller one. "Mother promised you fresh-baked cookies if you came over, remember?"

And as Sena looked into Akaba's smooth brown eyes, he saw no hint of anger nor disgust, only a calm, collected gaze reflected back at him.

'_Hayato-niisan's not mad at me,'_ realized Sena as he felt himself being gently guided forward. _'He was never mad in the first place.'_

Sena smiled at the thought. Perhaps being chased by bullies wasn't such a bad thing after all.

_'But only if it's Hayato-niisan that finds me.'_

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_**AN: **It gets really crappy towards the end, but since it's too late right now and I wanted to get this up as soon as possible, I'll have to edit it later. And as for Akaba's eyes, I made them brown cause the red eyes are because he wears contacts and since it's not very often you see a nine-year-old boy wearing contacts, I decided to keep them brown here.

Blaugh, now that I read this again, it sounds insanely crappy and corny.

Much thanks to avalokannon for pointing out errors in my writing and helping me improve my fanfic.


	2. Jealousy

**AN: **Happy holidays everyone! First of all, I would like to apologize for totally changing the meeting scene between Riku and Sena from what happens in the canon series and also for making Riku rather OOC. But hey, they're like, what, eight here? I suppose I should be given some leeway with their character here because of that.

**Muse:** Still doesn't give you much of an excuse for your crappy writing.

**Me: **Muse-chan, why are you always so mean? *goes off to sulk in the corner*

**Muse: **Well, at least you updated. That's always a good sign, right?

**Me: **Of course! =D

**Muse: **Especially for a lazy-ass author like you.

**Me: **Mu~se-ch~an!!! Why do you have to be so me~an?! Dx

**Muse: **(is totally ignoring the author) The warnings and disclaimers and whatever necessary, random crap are below.

**Disclaimer: I, Eternal Dumas, the author in no way or form own Eyeshield 21. Like I have said in many of my other stories, I cannot even draw stick figures properly.**

**Warnings: Story overall will be shounen-ai a.k.a. boyxboy love. If you are a homophobe or you simply don't like the idea of two people of the same gender kissing, press the back button NOW.**

**Flamers WILL NOT be tolerated here. Constructive criticism will.**

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_Akaba Hayato had always treasured two things, above everything else, in his life: his guitar and Kobayakawa Sena. He would soon learn to grow fond of American Football as well, but that would not be until he entered junior high and met Sasaki Koutarou._

_Nevertheless, Akaba's guitar and his childhood friend Sena held great importance in his heart for they came first and foremost in almost everything he did._

_And, although it a rather obscure fact since Akaba was not the type of child to reveal such things, he did not like to share either._

_*~*~*~*~*~*_

The first backpack fell into Sena's hands with a dull 'thump' followed by a second one, then a third and the final one on top of all the others. He raised his head up to look at the bullies.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the leader of the bullies, Toka, said sneering. "Hurry up and carry our backpacks to our houses."

"B-But that's impossible!" Sena squeaked out in a feeble attempt of protest. "There's no way I can carry so many backpacks without all of them falling. A-And shouldn't you all be carrying your own backpacks anyways?" As he spoke, Sena avoided all eye contact with Toka.

"Haaaah?! What'd you say you little shrimp?" Toka said, his tone both sneering and condescending. "I can't hear your squeaking ya little mouse!" Toka cracked his knuckles threateningly as he glared down at Sena. "You wanna speak up a little, shrimp?"

Sena let out another terrified squeak, stumbling backwards from fear. "N-n-no, nothing. I'll carry them home, I promise!"

Toka's friends snickered when they saw Sena stumble and began prodding him forward, forcing Sena to walk ahead of them towards the school gate.

Sena hung his head. '_In the end, I wasn't able to listen to Hayato-niisan's advice and fight back.'_

"Hey, hey, what do you think you guys are doing?"

At the sound of a new voice, Sena's head snapped up at it, as though pulled by an invisible string.

'_Hayato-niisan!'_ was Sena's first thought and was just about to call out the older boy's name when a blur of white run past him.

'_Eh?'_ was Sena's oh-so-coherent thought. _'Since when did Hayato-niisan have white hair...and was nearly as short as me?'_

His vision obscured by the all the backpacks in front of him, Sena could only make out the shocking mass of white hair that stood before Toka and his friends. Since the boy with the white hair (who was now definitely _not_ Hayato-niisan) had his back turned to him, Sena could not tell who it was that had come to his rescue.

He couldn't help worrying though, wondering how the white-haired boy could possibly drive off Toka and his gang when he was only as small as Sena.

'_What should I do?'_ Sena thought despairingly. He was afraid for the white-haired boy but couldn't think of any way to help him in his current predicament.

"Haha, are you looking to fight me, shrimp?" Toka jeered, raising his fist up for a punch.

Sena winced and closed his eyes, unwilling to see the scene unfold. Instead of the yelp of pain and the loud 'smack' of fist meeting flesh that Sena had expected to hear, there was only the 'whoosh' of displaced air and the quick flurry of footsteps on the ground.

Suddenly, Sena's arms felt lighter and he hesitantly opened one eye to see what had happened. What he saw nearly made his jaw drop.

The half a dozen or so backpacks that Sena had been carrying just a few minutes ago had been tied back to their owners…literally.

"Waahh!" Toka and his friends immediately let out a loud wail as they realized the humiliating predicament they were in: their backpacks literally stuck onto their body with tape and their legs bound so tightly together they had no choice but to hop away to avoid further humiliation.

"You won't get away with this Kaitani!" Toka yelled out, his last parting remark before he fell face-first onto the concrete sidewalk just outside the school gates.

'_Ah,'_ Sena realized as the white-haired boy turned around and Sena came to recognize his face. '_I remember now. He's Kaitani Riku, the new kid in my class that just moved here.'_

"Hey, you okay?"

It took Sena several minutes to realize that Riku was talking to him and it was only when Riku was standing a few feet in front of him, holding out his backpack that he had dropped did it register.

Sena, face flushed red when he saw Riku looking at him strangely, grabbed his backpack out of Riku's grip and stuttered out a reply. "Y-Yes, I'm fine. T-thanks for helping me back there."

Riku shrugged, almost impassively, as though he had done such things hundreds of times before.

'_And I bet he has too. Kaitani's so fast, there'd be no way the bullies could catch up to him!'_

"Hey." Riku was calling out to him again and Sena, not wanting to be embarrassed a second time, immediately looked up.

Riku was giving a scrutinizing stare that made Sena rather uncomfortable. It reminded him of the times Hayato-niisan looked at him when Sena was trying to hide the bruises the bullies gave him with long shirts and pants.

"Hey," Riku began again after several moments of silence. "Why didn't you try fighting back against those guys?"

Sena hung his head, unwilling to look at Riku when he answered. It was funny how, even though Riku and Hayato-niisan looked nothing alike, they still managed to make Sena feel intimidated whenever they looked at him with such piercing eyes.

"I-I was," Sena quietly stated, scuffing the toe of his white sneaker against the schoolyard. A sense of déjà vu washed over Sena as he traced senseless designs in the dirt. "B-but Toka and his friends are all stronger than me a-and even though I was trying to stand up for myself like Hayato-niisan told me to, I'm just too weak. There was no way I could have fought back."

The gloominess in Sena's voice was evident and was enough for Riku to pity the boy. The pity, not leaving Riku, helped him quickly come to a decision.

"I'll teach you."

"Eh?" Sena looked up, his wide toffee-brown eyes curiously looking into Riku's green ones. "Teach me what?"

"How to fight."

Sena's expression went from curious to terrifyingly pale so fast that Riku wondered if Sena was going to be sick.

"That's impossible!" Sena all-but shrieked out. "T-there's no way I can fight. Even Hayato-niisan can't think of a way and if Hayato-niisan can't, then there's definitely no way!"

Riku frowned; a little insulted that Sena had shot down his idea before it had even taken flight. He was also a little irked that Sena was constantly mentioning 'Hayato-niisan' as he talked; apparently, from the way he had just spoken of him, this Hayato-niisan was someone Sena greatly respected and admired.

"There's definitely a way," Riku insisted as Sena's complexion continued to stay a pasty white. "And I can teach you it, definitely!"

Sena, still disbelieving, could not help but grow curious at what this fighting method Riku was talking about with such confidence. Could Riku really help him? Could Riku really help small, cowardly Sena that always had to run to Hayato-niisan for help, become strong enough to fight off the bullies? From the way Riku spoke and the way his eyes seemed to shine with a bright confidence, Sena knew that the answer to all those questions was a resounding 'Yes.'

Sena swallowed, trying to bury the small insecurities and doubts that nipped from the corners of his mind—what if what Riku said was false? What if Sena only got weaker (though that seemed almost inconceivable considering Sena's present state)? Finally, in a wavering voice, he asked:

"C-Could you teach me then? If there's definitely a way for me to fight back, could you teach me?"

Riku grinned, wide and broad. "Of course I can. From today, as your big brother, I'll teach you how to fight back."

Sena felt something in his chest clench as Riku's 'big brother' statement; he didn't like how Riku had so easily claimed the title when he and Sena had known each other for less than an hour.

"U-um," Sena began as he saw Riku begin to march out the school gates, clearly expecting Sena to follow. "I already have a big brother so if you can, please don't use that title."

"There's nothing wrong with you having two big brothers is there?" Riku retorted, a little more harshly than he intended. He didn't know why but whenever Sena mentioned Hayato-niisan it just irritated him so much. He saw Sena flinch slightly and clutch the straps of his backpack tighter, his feet rooted to the spot.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, Riku stopped walking and faced Sena again.

"Sorry," apologized Riku. "My bad. I won't snap at you like that again but, like I said, as your big brother I'm going to teach you how to protect yourself from those bullies. That's a big brother's duty isn't it?"

Sena was about to open his mouth and tell Riku not to use the term big brother anymore but the sincere, albeit slightly embarrassed, expression on Riku's face made Sena stop.

Instead, what came out was:

"I…. didn't tell you my name yet."

Riku shrugged, as though he could have cared less. "It's Sena, right? At least, that's what I heard. I'm Riku, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," Sena muttered, suddenly remembering his manners and bowing.

Riku stared at him.

Sena blinked. "What?"

"You're too polite," Riku bluntly stated, crossing his arms as though to emphasize the importance of his words in a way only an eight-year-old could. "You don't have to be so polite, especially around your big brother—it's just weird."

'_He's already taken being the big brother for granted….'_ Sena realized with slight dread, not sure whether he should try getting Riku to stop or just go along with it. He opted for the latter, as Riku seemed determined to call himself Sena's big brother no matter what.

And just as Riku was beginning to lead Sena out of the school to the place they would "train" together, someone else called out.

"Sena-kun!"

"Hayato-niisan!" Sena called out joyfully, breaking off from Riku for the second time in that afternoon to greet his first 'big brother'.

Nine-year-old Akaba Hayato, a small guitar case in his right hand, waved back to Sena with his left. He was glad to see that Sena was safe; he had heard from one of the teachers that Toka had been bullying Sena again so, after packing up his guitar, he had rushed straight over to where he knew Sena would be.

Akaba was also glad to see that there were no visible bruises on Sena either, that was always a good sign.

What wasn't a good, though, was the small white-haired boy standing near Sena; his green eyes glaring daggers at Akaba when their gazes met. Akaba's own eyes became colder as he looked at Riku, prickles of unease going down his neck and spine.

Akaba disliked Riku on sight (or something very close to it), a boy he had not met until a minute ago. And Riku, likewise, felt dislike and something more menacing boil in his stomach at the sight of Akaba.

Jealousy.

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**AN: **That was a rather....uneventful chapter? And the ending felt a little too abrupt, or something. The good news is, I managed to introduce Riku! =D Everyone can probably already tell Riku and Akaba are going to be butting heads a lot when Sena's involved. xP

That's it for the second chapter! Thanks for reading. (bows)

Once again, I thank avalokannon for his constructive review. This story wouldn't be nearly twice as good if it wasn't for him.


	3. Confusion

**AN: **Holy crap what's this?! Why yes, it looks like an update! =O

**Muse: **Even the author herself is surprised that she managed to update her story. Now that's saying something about how lazy this author can be.

M-Muse-chan.... (pitiful expression) Why are your words always so harsh to me?

**Muse: **Mostly because they're true. That and it makes you stop going on sugar-highs.

What's wrong with sugar highs?! They're perfectly normal!

**Muse: **Just get on with the story already. Don't make me bring out the het.

NOOOO!! Anything but the het! D=

**Disclaimer: **Eyeshield 21 does not belong to me. It belongs to their rightful artist and story writer because 1) I can't draw to save my life and 2) I procrastinate. A lot.

**Warnings: **Yaoi (though it's hard to see right now), tempermental nine and seven-year-olds and the alternating of the canon timeline (this is an AU, after all).

Now onto chapter three of Fall in Love With Me.

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When they first met, the first thing Sena noticed—and always remembered—about Akaba was his hair. It was a bright, vibrant shade of red, but not quite pink. It was, after much deliberating in his junior high years, an ambiguous color between the two._

_Akaba's hair did not fit in either the category of red or pink, always remaining somewhere in the middle. Just like how Akaba did not quite fit in the role of Sena's older brother, always falling just a little bit off._

*~*~*~*~*~*

Akaba was still wary about the whole thing—for a nine year old he could be rather paranoid—and kept on insisting that if Sena did not want to do this, he could turn back right now. But Sena had already committed himself to this decision and knew if he turned back now he would only look like a coward.

"Hayato-niisan, I'll be fine with Riku," Sena repeated for the fifth time that afternoon. Akaba's expression as he looked down at the guitar case in his hands seemed anything but trusting.

"He did save me from Toka," Sena reminded him, so that Akaba could remember why Riku was not a bad person.

"I know," muttered Akaba, still looking down at his guitar case. He refused to meet Sena's eyes, causing Sena to feel a sharp pang in his chest. Akaba didn't lie; he knew Riku had no intention of hurting Sena mentally or physically but he just couldn't help the irrational, unpleasant feelings and thoughts that surfaced when Riku was mentioned.

"Hayato-niisan," Sena began again, albeit hesitating. "Why did you walk with me all the way to the riverside? Don't you have guitar lessons today?"

"The lessons were cancelled," Akaba said bluntly. "My teacher's rhythm had been off for the past week now, I would have refused to go even if he hadn't decided to slow down his tempo."

Sena wasn't quite sure what Akaba had said, him never being a very big music fan, but simply nodded as if he understood.

The remainder of the walk was silent, Akaba's sullen gaze solely fixed on his guitar case, looking as though he wanted to melt the lock with his eyes alone. Sena glanced nervously in Akaba's direction constantly, hoping for some sign to tell him it was okay to talk again, to tell him that Akaba was going back to normal again. It was strange, Sena noted, that Akaba had only started acting like this after Sena and Riku had become friends and Riku had started taking Sena to the riverside to teach him how to run. Akaba went with them every time, always sitting a little farther off so he could see the two of them clearly, strumming his guitar in a contemplative manner. Lately, Sena noted, the notes Akaba played had become harsher and less melodic with the same being said about Akaba's expression.

Sena desperately wanted to ask Akaba what was wrong but when Akaba got into those foul moods he was unapproachable, simply sulking and speaking very little, even to Sena.

When they reached the part of the river where Riku was, Sena jogged ahead to meet up with Riku, eager to begin another training session. Sena found that running together with Riku was fun; he enjoyed it because it was something he could do with a friend. Riku was now also his friend so that Akaba wasn't the only one that was there for Sena anymore.

Akaba could tell from Sena's happy expression as he talked and ran with Riku that what they did together was fun. He came to the same conclusion as Sena, but with less pleasant feelings in his stomach as he thought about it. The same dark, irrational feeling was building up inside Akaba again and no matter what Akaba did, he could not suppress it.

All he could do was bitterly wish Riku would hurry up and leave because he knew the root of these dark emotions were caused by him. So what if Riku taught Sena how to run and Sena could now defend himself against the bullies? That didn't make him any better than Akaba. That didn't mean Riku deserved all the attention Sena gave him when it used to belong to Akaba.

The most constant thought that would run and rerun through Akaba's mind like a repeated measure of music that would never end was how unfair the whole sitiuation was. Akaba didn't quite know why it wasn't fair, he just knew it was. The unpleasent feeling appeared again, bothering Akaba constantly like an out of tune guitar string that always sounded a little too flat no matter how much he tuned it.

However, the one small thing that Akaba could always hold against Riku was that Sena never, ever called Riku "niisan." Akaba smiled a small triumphant smile at that, remembering Sena's nickname of "Hayato-niisan" belonged to him only.

Riku, as he ran a third lap next to the river with Sena trailing close behind—the brown-haired boy was getting faster and faster every day—glanced up once, seeing Akaba sitting on the grass. Riku didn't know why but whenever he saw Akaba, he would always get so frustrated, so impatient no matter how good of a mood he had been in before. And the frustration only seemed to worsen today when he saw the look Akaba was giving him as their eyes met.

'_What's he so smug about?'_ Riku angrily thought, putting on another burst of speed so Akaba would no longer be in his field of view. Sena squawked a little, trying to keep up with the suddenly increased pace but he was still a novice at this new running style and an ill-placed rock protruding from the ground was enough to send him tumbling through the dirt.

He heard, as he tumbled forward head first towards the ground, the 'twang' of a suddenly flat guitar string and Riku shouting his name. Then he was rolling over, his hands instinctively coming out to brace his fall but only upsetting his balance more so that he ended hitting the side of his head as he landed on the ground.

Sena lay there for a minute, groaning as he felt his knees, his hands and his head throbbing in unison. Two different sets of footsteps were rushing towards him in opposite directions, two voices shouting his name. Akaba, because he was closer, reached him first and he was quick to help Sena into a sitting position.

"Sena-kun." Akaba sounded very worried and a little…guilty? "Are you alright? Did you break anything?"

"No," mumbled Sena, his head starting to hurt the most. He reached up to touch the side of his head, feeling the area of be slightly tender. "I think I just scraped my knees and hands."

"Let me see your hands," Akaba commanded and Sena obliged. This had been routine earlier on in their lives when Sena would get into "accidents" and Akaba had to bandage him up because Sena didn't want his parents to find out. Akaba let out a small "fuu" as he saw the ripped skin, small patches of blood opening unevenly across his palms. The same with his knees, the scrapes not too serious but could possibly get infected.

"Sena!" By now, Riku had reached them (and again, the horrible and dark feeling in the pit of Akaba's stomach) and was kneeling on Sena's other side. "You okay? Can you get up?"

"I think I'm okay," Sena began indecisively, rubbing his eyes. There was something stuck in them, he was sure of it because he was definitely not being a baby and crying over small injuries like these.

"Let's get those wounds disinfected and check your head," Akaba said, already pulling Sena up to his feet to leave.

Riku, not liking how Akaba had suddenly taken control of the situation when he had just been watching, shot up to his feet as well and declared in a loud, assertive voice:

"Sena's not going anywhere unless he wants to."

Akaba turned back to look at Riku, his angry brown eyes meeting equally angry emerald ones. "Sena-kun has been hurt, he needs to be looked over. You shouldn't really be objecting to this when you were the one who ran off first."

That was a blow Riku hadn't been expecting. He was caught by surprise but the anger in his sharp eyes did not dim.

"I think Sena should be the one to make the decision for himself. He's the one that's injured here," Riku ground out. The two of them glared at each other, not quite sure why this hostile anger existed between them, but just that it did.

Before Akaba could further incur the hostile atmosphere around them, Sena let out a groan and began to slump into Akaba's arms. Akaba, not prepared for this, had to adjust his weight to keep Sena upright.

"Sena-kun, what's wrong?" Akaba sharply demanded.

"Just…a little dizzy," was Sena's mumbled response, his head aching with pain.

Akaba shot Riku a meaningful look and Riku relented, backing slowly away. Akaba, supporting a half-tottering Sena by his side, picked up his guitar case and walked away.

Riku watched them go, wanting to help support Sena as well but one look at his companion sent ripples of anger through his mind.

Riku looked down, clenching his fists. What was wrong with him? He wasn't usually this temperamental and easy to rile up. What was happening?

* * *

**AN: **I really, really should be doing my homework right now, but I'm getting side-tracked. A lot. Now I'm going to feel unproductive for the rest of the day. (cries in a corner)


	4. Reconcile

**AN: **Holy crap is this an update? Why yes, yes it is. (ducks down as miscellaneous objects are pelted her way)

For those who are wondering why I took such an insanely long amount of time to update this, besides the fact that I'm painfully lazy at times, was because I was having a massive writer's block that refused to leave me. Also, Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) has all but eaten away at my life. Does anyone here play it? Please tell me someone at least knows of it!

**Muse: **Shall we just ignore the author and continue on with the story?

Beware of extreme OOC-ness in this chapter! Besides that, yeah, listen to Muse-chan and just ignore me.

**Muse: **You do realize that you just told all the readers to ignore your existence, right?

_

* * *

Riku, even if he would not admit, was still a child. Children were pure and with that purity there was also simplicity. Riku, like any child, saw the world in the simple terms. There were bullies, and there were good people. Bullies were punished and pathetic because they always picked on those weaker than them. Good people were helped and were the type you became friends with._

_And Sena, who was a good person, was his friend.  
_

"Riku?" Sena looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Riku felt an uncomfortable pang in his chest, the kind that made you want to puke but wouldn't let you. '_Stupid,'_ he told himself. '_This is what you get for avoiding him for three days.'_

At school, he had barely glanced at Sena, only exchanging the least amount of words necessary. It pissed Riku off because he didn't know why he was acting like that—maybe it was guilt, maybe anger, maybe regret but because Riku didn't understand it himself, he could not find the courage to talk to Sena and stopped their daily training sessions.

Sena had been hurt by Riku's indifference towards him when, just a few weeks ago he had been standing by his side and proclaiming himself as Sena's big brother. Riku knew that Sena was upset, and it was the reason why he was standing on Sena's front porch right now.

"I'm here to say goodbye." The words came out oddly smooth from Riku's mouth, as if he didn't care.

"Oh." The glimmer of fear became a spark and Riku felt even sicker because now Sena looked like he was about to cry. "Okay."

Had Riku been a little older, he would have better understood the importance of this moment and the weight of his words. But he didn't. The only thing Riku could think about was that he didn't want to see Sena cry.

"I'm sorry," he quickly mumbled.

Sena looked confused. "About what?"

"Huh?" Riku looked up, equally confused. "I mean, what happened at the riverside. I'm sorry…about that."

Sena's eyebrows scrunched together. "But Riku, that wasn't your fault."

"What?" Riku looked shocked. "What are you talking about Sena? If I hadn't sped up like that, you wouldn't have tripped and hurt yourself."

Sena suddenly laughed, his on-the-verge-of-tears look overwhelmed by relief. Riku wasn't quite sure what it was that made Sena's mood change so quickly so he could only stare.

"You mean you were avoiding me because you felt guilty over that?" Sena asked between giggles.

Riku's cheeks reddened. "I-it's not funny, Sena! I was really worried, you know."

But Sena only laughed harder. "Thank goodness," he said between laughs. "I thought you were avoiding me because you didn't like me anymore."

"What? Why wouldn't I like you?"

"Well…" Sena suddenly became shy, avoiding Riku's gaze instead of the other way around. "Because I always have trouble when we're training together, and instead of using my speed to fight against the bullies, I end up using it to help them. I guess I'm just really weak."

Sena's voice had grown progressively quieter as he spoke and it made the guilty and uncomfortable feeling double in Riku's gut. Yet, there was also a kernel of warmth in the midst of those unpleasant feelings as he realized how stupid he had been these past three days. He had been agonizing over something so much that he ended up over thinking it when, instead, he should have been by his friend's side.

Sena felt a hand on his head, patting it.

He looked up. "Riku?"

Riku smiled, the gentle sort of big brother smile he gave to only Sena. "Don't think such negative thoughts, Sena. Your speed isn't something to be underestimated."

Sena visibly brightened. "Really?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. It'd be even better if you used it in the way I told you to use it."

Sena flushed and again, the glimmer of hurt appeared.

"But it's amazing," Riku quickly added. "Your speed, I mean."

Sena was giving him a dubious look. "Are you being honest, Riku?"

"Of course!" Riku insisted. "There's no way I'd lie to you Sena."

Riku then fixed Sena with a serious gaze. "Sena, we may never see each other again, but we'll always be friends. I can promise you that-if you can promise me that you'll continue practicing the running style I taught you."

"I promise!" he earnestly replied and gave a beaming smile that made Riku's chest tighten in a strange manner and his cheeks flush not out of embarrassment, but something else entirely.

'_Cute,'_ was all Riku could think at that moment. He would later (mentally) bash his head against a wall over this, but at the moment, tried not to over think it. It was normal for other boys to think their friends were cute…right?

They walked to Riku's house together, Sena much more talkative. A white truck was already in front of the house when they got there and Riku quickly boarded the passenger's seat when his father called.

"See you, Sena!" Riku called out as he poked his head out the window while the truck started up. "Don't forget to run every day!"

"I won't!" Sena reassured, waving his arm in a large arc as the truck began to move. "And don't forget that we'll always be friends, Riku!"

Riku yelled something but Sena didn't hear it above the roar of the truck. Sena didn't mind though and continued to wave to Riku until he and truck were nothing more than a white shape against the blue horizon.

* * *

**AN: **Uh...I'll go start on chapter five now (runs before she can get pelted with anything bigger than a bread basket).

GRAARRR, where are my page breaks damnit? It won't even let me do an extra space between lines anymore!


	5. Reason

**AN:** IT'S AN UPDATE, OHSNAP.

You can thank my long-lost twin for this one. She threatened to harass me to no end if I didn't update. Also, beware of time skips and scene jumping galore. If you've read at least the first chapter of Eyeshield (which I'm sure most of you have, if not all of you) then you should be able to figure out what's going on.

So anyways, on we go!

**Warnings: **Uh...same stuff as the previous chapters.

* * *

_Sena admitted he was a coward by nature. He always followed the path of least resistance when running. But there are times when he runs, trips and is helped back up by Akaba. And when he looks up, his hand firmly grasped in Akaba's, he sees how large Akaba's back is, and the vast distance between them. He has always been looking at his big brother's back, admiring and wishing that he could catch up to him._

_So even though Sena is still a natural-born coward and is still running away from all his problems, he's also trying to lessen the distance between them._

The ball sails through the goals and the crowd holds their breaths in a moment of silence and it's as if time stands still. Then the score board changes to 0-3 and the crowd roars, a great cheer arising as if to compensate for the silence that had come beforehand. Sena is among the crowd, his cheeks and nose turning red in the cold October air but he could care less. Everything became trivial now that the Bando spiders had just scored points against the Oujou White Knights. On the field, Sena could see Akaba high five one of his teammates while another shouted "That's smart!"

Sena couldn't help but smile. '_That's Koutarou-san for you.'_

"An unexpected event has happened!" Sanada crowed into the microphone. "The Bando Spiders have taken the lead against the Oujou White Knights when no one else, in this entire tournament, have managed to score a single point against them!"

'_Because Hayato-niisan is with them,' _Sena wanted to say, unable to help the swell of pride inside him.

Bando eventually lost with a score of 7-6, but that wasn't important. Bando was still going to the Kantou tournament!

Sena was waiting outside the stadium for Akaba after the game, who came out with his trademark guitar case on his back. Sena immediately fell in step with Akaba as they began to walk to the subway station together.

"You were amazing today Hayato-niisan," Sena said, eyes bright and cheeks still red from the cold.

"Fuu, we did okay," was Akaba's modest reply though there was a small smile on his face. "How are your studies going?"

"I've applied to Deimon high school for the fall." Sena looked sheepish. "I would have applied to Bando but..."

"Fuu, you don't need to say anymore. We live in different areas now Sena-kun, it can't be helped. Going to Bando would have been too inconvenient to be worth it for you."

Sena hesitated briefly before adding, "I'm thinking of joining their American Football, if they have one."

Akaba pushed his shades up. "Are you sure?"

Sena nodded.

The train arrived and the two of them stepped on. It wasn't until the two of them had gotten some seats and Akaba had begun strumming on his guitar that the silence was broken.

"To be honest Sena-kun, I never thought you'd take an interest in American Football."

"Me neither," Sena admitted. "It's the type of thing I would usually avoid but when you're talking about your team, your dream of winning the Christmas bowl I...feel like it's something I want to do too, Hayato-niisan."

Akaba's hand paused briefly over his guiter. So he was Sena's reason? Akaba felt something twinge in his chest, like a perfectly tuned C-chord being played- a warm feeling.

"Fuu, you would make a good running back."

Sena's face brightened. "You think so?"

"You have your golden legs after all. You'd make a formidable opponent on the field."

Sena suddenly grew meek. "No, well er, I haven't actually played in a game yet so…"

Akaba chuckled, playing a brief rendition of "Moonlight Sonata".

"You'll do well Sena-kun, I'm sure of it."

* * *

Kurita Ryoukan was overjoyed. He was so happy, in fact, that he had begun crying when the new recruit had sat down to talk. There had been four at first but three of them ended up running away for some reason. But there was still one left and that was good enough for him!

Sena, in the meantime, was infinitely glad that Deimon's American Football team had a linebacker. He had been looking for the club building when he had run into his class delinquents who tried to beat his lunch money out of him. They dragged him to somewhere secluded to do it. It had been coincidence that they ended up in the club building Sena had been looking for and Kurita had appeared the time he had.

"So, what position are you applying for?" Kurita asked as he dumped dozens of sugar cubes into his tea.

"Running back," Sena answered, remembering Akaba's words.

The door to the clubhouse slammed open.

"Fucking fatty, why are you just sitting here and not handing out posters with the fucking manager?" A spiky-haired blonde teenager with long, lanky limbs that didn't look quite normal and razor-sharp teeth barked as he entered. On his shoulder, he carried a rather…_dangerous_ looking gun (Sena had an uneasy feeling it was also very, very real) with his finger placed lightly on the trigger.

Sena had to resist the urge to quietly "Hiii" and cower in a corner at the frightening person that had just entered the room. The blonde wouldn't have let him anyways, as he immediately spotted Sena.

"Who's this?" he demanded, scrutinizing Sena.

"Oh, this is Sena-kun," Kurita said, not at all phased by how _demonically evil_ the blonde looked. "He's wants to play running back. Hiruma, do you have an application we can give him?"

The blonde, Hiruma, continued to stare at Sena, making the smaller boy extremely uncomfortable. He was made even more uncomfortable and jumpy when Hiruma fired several rounds from his gun into the club ceiling before turning around and walking out.

"We need to test him first," he said, picking up some gear lying in the corner of the club. "Then I'll consider having him join."

* * *

Sena, though on the verge of collapsing and filled with absolute terror (courtesy of Hiruma), looked hopefully up at the blonde demon who held the stopwatch in his hand. Cerebus was on the side of the field, gnawing on the bone that had been placed in Sena's shirt earlier when he had been forced to do the forty-yard dash with Cerebus chasing him.

A wide grin spread across Hiruma's face as he looked at the time. He gleefully fired several rounds of bullets into the air, causing Sena to jump backwards.

"Congratulations fucking shrimp," he cackled. "You're our new running back!"

He then held out the timer so that Sena could see the 4.2 seconds displayed there, causing Sena's eyes to wide.

"You've got the golden legs. We're going to win the Christmas Bowl for sure, Ya-ha!"

_Golden legs…_

Akaba had said the same thing to him and it made Sena smile, despite his terror-filled exhaustion. His big brother had been right after all.

* * *

The fist slammed into his cheek, cold and unforgiving like the steel railing his back hit.

"We've been waiting for you," the boy who had punched him said. He was flanked by two others, one with oddly-shaped lips and one wearing a pair of round orange-colored sunglasses. Sena recognized them—they were the same ones that had tried beating him up this afternoon. The one that had punched him, a blonde with an X-shaped scar on his cheek, cracked his knuckles.

Instead of being frightened by them like he would usually be, Sena grew angry. He wouldn't be the victim here again.

"_You'll do well Sena-kun, I'm sure of it."_

"_You've got the golden legs. We're going to win the Christmas Bowl for sure, Ya-ha!"_

That's right…

'_I'm going to be an American Football player, and catch up to Hayato-niisan.'_

Sena ran.

* * *

If Hiruma hadn't been positive that their new recruit would make the best running back after seeing his forty yard dash, he was positive now. He watched Sena dash through an entire crowd of people without a single interference, before performing a spin move to avoid being caught in front of the train station and then blitzing all the way into the train. The three delinquents chasing him fell into a pile on the platform and Hiruma, cackling, sat down on the scarred blonde's head.

"Touchdown," he breathed as a wide, demonic grin spread across his face.

* * *

**AN:** Yeeaahh, lots of page breaks here. And things are finally starting to happen, yeaaaaaa. (awkwardly flails) Oh and in case anyone noticed, Mamori is mentioned in the story. I already said that she wouldn't be Sena's childhood friend, but she'll still be in the story since she is Deimon's manager.

Until next time (whenever that may be).


	6. Run

**AN: **Apparently when the internet goes out is the best time for me to be inspired to write and get the crazy urge to re-read the Eyeshield 21 series. You can thank the severe thunderstorm in our area for that, though the four days without internet was not fun._  
_

**Edit: **I added another part into his chapter that was originally going to be in chapter 7. If you squint, you'll see some Koutarou/Sena and Akaba/Sena!

* * *

_As children, they used to always hold hands. It was not unusual because of the nature of their relationship and their mothers would often coo at how cute they looked, Akaba's larger hand clasped tightly around Sena's smaller one as they walked down the street together. For Akaba, it was to make sure he never lost Sena but as they grew older, Sena would need to hold his hand less and less._

_Akaba misses that and sometimes, he wonders what it would be like to hold hands again. Not as a big brother guiding his younger brother, but as lovers._

The phone rang an hour after Sena had finished eating dinner. His mother was the first to pick it up and was immediately gushing, saying things such as "It's been so long!" and "How have you been Suzumi?" so that Sena immediately knew who had called. He was watching some TV while eating some of the cake his mother had bought as a way to celebrate him getting into Deimon. His father had his nose buried in a newspaper, as usual.

"Sena just finished his first day at Deimon," Mihae continued chattering into the phone. "He came home looking all frazzled that I was worried he had gotten bullied again."

"Mom!" Sena tried to protest but Mihae seemed to ignore him.

"He didn't used to have a problem when Hayato-kun was around but now I'm worried since he doesn't have anyone to watch over him now," Mihae continued to ramble on, much to Sena's embarrassment. "Oh, Hayato-kun wants to talk with you Sena," Mihae said after another five minutes chatting, handing Sena the phone.

Sena, not wanting to be overhead, retreated to the safety of his room before he began talking.

"Hayato-niisan?"

"Hello Sena-kun."

Sena smiled, the familiar voice a comfort in the chaos of all that had happened today lifting his spirits up with just that simple phrase. "How have you been?"

There was a faint strum in the background as Akaba tuned his guitar while speaking. "Fuu, I'm alright. What about you? I thought I heard something about bullies?"

"It's okay Hayato-niisan. I..." Sena swallowed, the entire reality of what he had done that afternoon seeming to sink in. "I outran them."

He heard the strumming stop. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Fuu," Akaba breathed out, his expression of relief unseen by Sena. "See, Sena-kun? You really do have the golden legs."

"Yeah," Sena agreed, remembering the adrenaline he had felt rushing through him as he had sped through the crowd and dived into the train. "Hayato-niisan, I also joined Deimon's American Football team today."

"Oh?"

"They're a rather small team right now," Sena admitted, remembering how disappointed he had felt when Kurita told them that last year, he and Hiruma had been the only regular players and all the others had been substitutes. "But I think, with enough time, we'll be able to gather enough players to challenge the other teams in this year's tournament."

"Fuu, even Bando?" Akaba asked, his tone amused.

"Even Bando," Sena said. He took a deep breath then, unsure if he really wanted to say the next part but the words came out in the end, perhaps aided by the foolhardy courage he had found in himself today when he had discovered the strength of his legs.

"Hayato-niisan, I want to be able to challenge you as an American Football players. I...want to become someone worthy of being your equal."

There was silence on the other line.

"W-was that going too far?" He let out a weak chuckle. More silence. "H-Hayto-niisan?"

"Fuu." A loud chord suddenly came through the phone, causing Sena to jump and almost drop the device, his ears ringing at the static afterwards. "You really think that way Sena-kun?"

"Eh? I mean, yes," Sena stumbled over his words a little, still a little taken aback at how loud the last chord had been.

Akaba was silent for the longest time then but this time, the soft melody he strummed on his guitar was there to fill the silence. Sena did not say anything either, simply listening to the music. It was Akaba's way of showing Sena his music, a part of his world that many other people had difficulty understanding. And although Sena could not see it, Akaba was smiling as he played the piece.

"I'm glad, Sena-kun." _That I am so important to you. _

_One day, I want to tell you how important you are to me, as well._

"By the way, do you know when your first game is?" Akaba asked between lulls in his strumming.

"No though, I doubt we'll be playing in an official match anytime soon," answered Sena.

* * *

"Our first game is tomorrow," Hiruma announced.

Sena choked on his water, some of it dribbling down his chin. The team manager, Mamori, was by his side in a flash, rubbing soothing circles against his back and handing him a napkin to wipe the water off his chin.

"Are you alright Sena-kun?" Mamori asked, her gaze concerned.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," Sena weakly answered.

Hiruma, who hadn't looked the least bothered when Sena started choking, clicked the safety off his shotgun. "He's not a fucking baby, fucking manager. Stop treating him like one."

Mamori bristled and stood to her full height, hands on her hips and glaring daggers at Hiruma. "I am not treating him like a child. I am just making sure he's okay when he looked like he was choking, is that so wrong?"

"You're fucking babying him, fucking manager."

"At least it's better than not showing any concern at all. Grr, how can you be so inconsiderate sometimes?" she demanded, picking up a nearby broom like she was ready to do battle with it.

Hiruma looked like he could have cared less and continued to clean his gun but there was a gleam in his eye that made Sena want to crawl underneath the table.

For the second time that day, Sena wondered how it was possible that the two of them were dating. They seemed to clash so much that Sena wouldn't be surprised if they broke up right now. According to Kurita though, the two of them had been together since their first year and had not once broken up which was even more of a surprise for Sena.

Love was a strange, strange thing.

"I guess we should start gathering players," Kurita says out loud as Hiruma and Mamori began their daily broomstick and machine gun war. Sena, who had tried crawling underneath the table, stopped at Kurita's words.

"How are we going to do that?" he asked, ducking his head when half a broomstick came flying in his direction.

"We'll have to go around to the other sports clubs and see who's willing to join," Kurita said. "Since we have three members already, we'll need another eight. Do you want to help, Sena-kun?"

"Of course he's going to help, fucking fatty," Hiruma barked, having stopped shooting bullets at Mamori's bullet-proof white board. "Anybody who doesn't get at least one member will have to do a punishment game."

Sena let out a quiet "hiiieee" as he saw the demonic grin spread over Hiruma's face after saying that and swore to himself that he would get at least one person, even if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

"Hello, you have reached Kobayakawa Sena. I am currently unable to answer your phone call right now so please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can."

Akaba frowned as he pressed the End Call button on his cell phone. It was the third time in a row he had gotten Sena's voice mail, something that had never happened before considering Sena usually picked up his calls after the first ring (Sena didn't have anyone but Akaba in his cell phone book, after all).

"Strange, he should be out of class by now."

"Who should be?" As usual, Koutarou had decided to butt into his business after overhearing Akaba's comment. He pulls out his comb, brushing his hair back as he watches the new members step onto the field. "You talking about Sena?"

"He won't answer my calls."

"Well, it's not like he's going to be able to answer every single time you call him," Koutarou pointed out. "He's in high school now, give him some space."

Akaba stared at his screen for a couple of seconds before closing the cell phone and putting it away. "Fuu, hearing such a wise remark coming from you is making my rhythm feel off-kilter."

"Hah? Bastard, you're making fun of me, aren't you?"

* * *

Sena placed a single helmet magnet onto his side of the 'Member Recruitment' chart, his heart beat increasing when he counted the total number of magnets on the chart and saw that there were eight.

_'We did it!'_ he mentally cheered. '_We got enough players!'_

Kurita, who had been standing next to Sena, was more verbal about his joy.

"Hooray Sena-kun, you're a life-saver!" Kurita cheered, grabbing the other boy's arms and swinging him around. "Now we can play in the tournament!"

"I'm a little nervous about it," Sena admitted after Kurita had stopped swinging him around. "I've never played in an official game before."

"You know most of the rules though, don't you?"

"Yeah, Hayato-niisan explained most of them to me once."

"Eh? Hayato-niisan?"

"Oh, Hayato-niisan is a childhood friend of mine," Sena began to explain. "He's also a really strong American football player and I..." Sena swallowed. "I want to catch up to him. I want to become an equal of his on the football field, so I won't have to rely on him anymore to help me."

"That's a good goal, Sena-kun," Kurita praised.

Sena suddenly grew flustered. "Y-you think so? It always seemed so silly in my head and I was afraid people would laugh if I said it out loud but I just couldn't bear hiding it anymore so it kind of just...came out."

"Don't be embarrassed Sena-kun," Kurita said, acting like the kind, supportive upperclassman he was. "There's nothing shameful about wanting to catch up to someone else. And as long as you keep running, you'll definitely catch up to them."

Sena brightened. "You think so, Kurita-san? Ahaha, I'm so relieved." Sena clenched his fists, his expression growing determined. "Okay! I'll do my best tomorrow."

Kurita beamed. "That's the spirit!"

* * *

**First quarter of the Deimon Devil Bats first match vs. the Koigahama Cupids:**

"Koutarou, why are you here?"

"I'm here to watch the game. What's it to you?" Koutarou made a face at Akaba before going back to brushing his hair with his comb.

"You have no reason to be here."

"I just stated my reason, idiot! Geez, you're so not smart for forgetting what I said already," huffed Koutarou, his eyes going back to the field. "Maybe I wanted to see Sena's first game too. You got a problem with that?"

"Fuu."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Geez, stop fighting already," Julie said with a roll of her eyes. "Can't we all just sit and enjoy the match?"

"Fuu, unfortunately Koutarou and my rhythm clash too much for me to enjoy myself here."

"If you're going to say you don't like me, just say it normally," Koutarou seethed, glaring up at Akaba who was standing with his eyes fixed on the field.

"I find it strange that Sena-kun hasn't entered the field yet," Akaba commented, completely ignoring Koutarou's angry comments about being ignored. "With his natural speed, he should be easily able to dominate the game."

"Those two might be the reason why," Julie said, pointing towards the top of the bleachers on the opposite side of the field.

Koutarou squinted and then his eyes widened as he recognized them. "Hey, hey, what are members of the Oujou White Knights doing at a game like this?"

"Fuu, that's obvious. The winner of this match will be their opponent tomorrow. Of course they would want to scout and see what their opponents will be like."

"That's pretty smart," Koutarou appraised, nodding. "But wait, we might not be able to see Sena in his first match then. Not smart!"

"Koutarou, why do you even care?" Akaba asked. "Your rhythm clashes far too strongly with Sena-kun's for you two to be close."

"Unlike you, he's smart," Koutarou said with a scowl, looking ready to use his spit attack on Akaba.

"Koutarou, you only say that because Sena would always compliment your kicks whenever he came to watch Bando's practices," Julie said with another roll of her eyes.

"No I don't!" Koutarou insisted but the flush on his face said otherwise. Akaba fuu-ed again and went back to observing the game. Both teams weren't all that impressive overall but he knew that if Sena joined the game, the Deimon Devil Bats would have the advantage and could probably win. The only thing that seemed to be holding the Deimon Devil Bats captain, the demonic-looking quarterback with the number 1 jersey, back from having him play were the Oujou players.

"If they just disappeared..." Akaba muttered under his breath.

**Fourth Quarter:**

Koutarou's jaw dropped. "They disappeared!"

"More like, they got chased away," Julie amended, watching the dust trial left behind by the horde of rampaging girls dissipate. "Sakuraba fan girls sure are scary..."

"It doesn't matter now," Akaba said, his eyes going towards the new player that joined the field from Deimon's side. He wore the number 21 jersey and a green eye shield, causing Akaba to frown. He would recognize that figure anywhere, masked or not.

_'Don't tell me Sena-kun has...'_

"Who's that new player on Deimon's side?" Koutarou asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand to get a better look at the field.

"Most likely, it's Sena-kun."

Koutarou gaped. "Huh?"

"But why is he wearing an eye shield?" Julie asked, equally surprised.

"I'm not sure, probably something their captain thought of," answered Akaba. He was sure Sena had never heard of the legend of Eyeshield 21. Not to mention Sena was far too modest of a boy to willingly take on a title with so much pressure associated with it. It could only be a bluff done by the demonic quarterback.

_'Interesting,' _Akaba mused, watching as Sena stepped onto the field. He seemed nervous and a little shaky but there was also determination in the way he walked and positioned himself. _'He certainly does have the potential to bear the title but can he go through with it?'_

He remembers the words Sena spoke to him several nights ago on the phone and he lets himself a small smile. _'Yes, he can.'_

**Ten seconds before the end of the game:**

_'I just have to run,'_ Sena told himself, crouching lower to the ground, the grips of his cleats digging into the ground as he prepared to run forward once Kurita snapped the ball.

"Set!"

_'I won't rely on Hayato-niisan anymore. __I'll become my own American Football player.'_ The green-tinted eye shield that covered his face gleamed in the sun, Hiruma's last cackling words after he had donned the uniform and eye shield coming to mind.

_"From now on, your code-name is Eyeshield 21!"_

"HUT!"

And Deimon Devil Bats American football player Eyeshield 21 ran.

* * *

When the Deimon Devil Bats win the game and Koutarou and Julie are there cheering, Akaba does not join them. He will congratulate Sena later privately (it's more of his style). He is one step closer to reaching the place Akaba is and it makes Akaba proud. Akaba wants to believe that it's the big brother in him talking, that he was proud because any big brother would be happy to see their younger brother who they had watched growing up, become a man.

But secretly, he knows it's because it makes him feel needed; this way, Sena will only be watching him and chasing after him.


	7. Sight

**AN: Yes, updates exist. Just very...rarely...**

* * *

It comes as a bit of a surprise to Akaba when the person who meets him at the entrance of the stadium is not Sena, but his captain, Hiruma Yoichi.

Akaba raises an eyebrow as he straightens up from leaning against the gate post to confront the other.

"Yo, fucking red eyes." As usual, Hiruma's nicknames and greetings are crass and vulgar but Akaba does not let it disturb his rhythm.

"Deimon's captain. What can I do for you?" Akaba asks, his voice collected and his expression calm.

"You know the fucking shrimp." Hiruma stated.

"What of it?" Akaba wants to ask how Hiruma knew about him and Sena but he had a feeling he didn't actually want to know. That and Hiruma probably wouldn't give him a straight answer anyways.

"Kekeke, it's rather troublesome for one of our future opponents to already know about our ace. You catch my drift, fucking red eyes?"

"Fuu." Akaba adjusts his shades. "If you think I'm going to blab to everyone I see about Sena-kun, then you're mistaken. I wish to see Sena-kun reach his fullest potential, just as you do Hiruma. Eyeshield 21's secret identity is safe with me."

"Kekeke, good to know we're on the same page." Hiruma demonically grins then as a glint appears in his eyes. "But is that all of what you feel? Mr. Tokyo MVP?"

There is the smallest twitch of Akaba's fingers that no ordinary person would have seen but Hiruma, who wasn't all that ordinary, did see. His grin widens, showing off all of his teeth.

"Do you really just want to see the fucking shrimp reach his full potential? You sure you don't have an ulterior motive?" Hiruma is taunting him, goading him into a trap but Akaba is no stranger to taunts. Even though they are hitting dangerously close to home, Akaba does not let his calm facade slip.

"Is he really just your little brother, fucking red eyes?"

"That is none of your business," Akaba quickly answers, a bit too quickly and he doesn't answer the question. That's when Akaba knows he's fallen for Hiruma's taunt. The man is a frightening tactician, both on and off the battlefield and Akaba knows if he stays any longer with Hiruma, he will reveal things that he won't admit even to himself.

Hiruma seems to realize Akaba is ready to retreat then and backs off, postponing this battle for another day. As a commander, he knows when to time his attacks and when to back away. As interesting as it would be to get more dirt on Akaba, Hiruma can wait. He's already gotten Akaba's word that their ace's identity won't be in jeopardy for now which had been his goal. Finding out that Akaba wasn't all he seemed towards Sena was just another plus in his book.

"Whatever you say fucking red eyes." Hiruma turns on his heel. "Whatever you say."

Even though he doesn't hear it, Akaba feels like Hiruma is cackling as he walks away.

Once Hiruma disappears around the corner, Akaba leans back against the gateway and releases a deep breath.

_'Hiruma Yoichi...he's a dangerous one...'_

* * *

Several minutes later, Sena appears.

"Hayato-niisan!"

"Sena-kun, you got my text?"

"Yeah." Sena holds out his phone, showing the text Akaba had sent him when the game ended asking to go get dinner with him. "Where's Koutarou-san and Julie-san? I thought I saw them with you during the game."

"They had to go back right after the game," Akaba answers. "You did great today, Sena-kun."

Sena flushes from the praise, scratching the back of his head—a nervous habit he had that Akaba thought was endearing no matter how old Sena got. "No, well, I was only in the game for the last ten seconds..."

"And those ten seconds were the ones that decided the match," Akaba says, a small smile. "Every second matters in an American Football match, Sena-kun and you proved that in your game today."

Sena practically radiates happiness at Akaba's praise. But it's quickly replaced by gloom as he suddenly remembers Hiruma's casual announcement of their next opponent.

_'The Oujou White Knights, one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Waahh, will be okay tomorrow?'_

"Sena-kun?" Akaba bends down a little to try and meet Sena's gaze, something he often did to get Sena's attention when Sena starts to get lost in his own thoughts.

"Huh?" Sena blinks as he finds himself staring straight into Akaba's shades. "What is it Hayato-niisan?"

Akaba's lips quirk upwards. "You got lost in thought Sena-kun. Do you want to talk about it over dinner?"

"Ah." Sena scratches his chin with an embarrassed smile. "That's probably a good idea."

They're almost done eating their burgers at a local fast food joint when Akaba brings up the topic.

"Sena-kun, do you know who your opponents are for tomorrow's match?"

Sena puts down his drink. "The Oujou White Knights. Kurita-san said Deimon lost to them last year 99-0, although I'm hoping we'll do a little better now that the Golden Generation is gone, haha." Sena weakly chuckles, not even believing his own words.

Even if Oujou had gotten weaker, Deimon was still no match for them; Sena knew that. Deimon was a new team with only two main, veteran players while everyone else was all substitutes. And he, Sena, was a new member with zero game experience. Sure he may have been fast but Oujou had Shin, Kantou's strongest Linebacker.

Did they really stand a chance?

A loud guitar riff shakes Sena out of his thoughts and he realizes Akaba has brought out his guitar. People begin to stare but Akaba pays them no heed-he's used to the stares of people who don't understand the nature of his rhythm.

"What are you thinking so hard about Sena-kun?" There is a small smile on Akaba's face, one that Sena is very familiar with. It is the same smile Akaba always gives him when encouraging Sena; one that told Sena his big brother was with him. "All you have to do is run across that field, faster than anyone. You can do that, can't you?"

That's when Sena realizes he has been worrying for nothing. What did it matter who their opponents were? All he had to do was run, just like he always did.

Sena nods, a smile finding it's way on his face again. He suddenly feels really hungry and eagerly digs into his burger while Akaba chews on his own at a calmer pace.

* * *

"Thank you, Hayato-niisan," Sena says to Akaba at the end of the night when they are on the subway heading home.

Akaba raises an eyebrow at the words. "For what? All I did was tell you the truth."

Sena can't help but smile at this. "You really are amazing Hayato-niisan." Here, his smile broadens and brightens so much that the subway lights suddenly seemed to have dimmed in shame. "I'm glad you're my big brother."

Sena does not notice the way Akaba's fingers pause over his guitar strings nor notice the silence that stretches just a little bit longer than normal before Akaba replies. "Me too, Sena-kun."

The subway arrives at Akaba's stop and he gets up in one fluid motion, his guitar in it's case and the case already on his shoulder as he onto the platform, waving to Sena one last time before the doors close and the subway speeds off again. Akaba is grateful the subway had stopped when it had or Sena would have known he was lying when he said those words.

* * *

The Oujou vs. Deimon game goes mostly as expected. Akaba had already predicted Deimon would lose. They were simply too weak, lacking in both experience and manpower compared to the illustrious White Knights. But Deimon had bared their fangs and shown that they had potential, that if they were given the time and opportunity they could become just as fearsome and ferocious as the elite monsters that ruled the American Football world. Deimon has the chance to be strong.

Sena has the chance to be strong.

And Akaba...

Akaba feels torn.

He wants to feel proud at seeing Sena mature because as his big brother, that's what he should feel. Perhaps a faint feeling of nostalgia would linger inside him before fading away, like the echo of the final note of a song. Except he doesn't feel nostalgic and the proud feeling is an afterthought as jealousy rear it's head and clouds his thoughts when he sees Shin look at Sena.

Shin is beginning to see the potential in Sena. He is starting to see Sena and Akaba finds it as hard to stomach as an out-of-tune guitar. Akaba is not the only one looking at Sena anymore.


End file.
